第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题，每题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Joanne was stuck in traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5:30.and at 6:30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club.At last.the traffic was moving.She swung quickly racing to her house.As she opened the door,she nearly tripped over Sheba.
“Hey,Sheba.”she said,“I’ve got no time for you now,but I’ll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club.”Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking Obviously,she could hardly breathe.Immediately,Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet（兽医）.When she got there,that vet was just about to close for the day Seeing the state of Sheba,Dr.Sterne brought her quickly into his office.
“Listen,doctor,I’m really in a rush to get to a meeting can I leave her with you,and go and get changed?I’ll be back in ten minutes to pick her up,and then I’ll take her on to the meeting with me.Is that OK?”
“Sure.”said the doctor.
Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes.As she was once more entering the hallway,the phone by the door began to ring.
“This is Dr.Sterne,”said an anxious vioce,“I want you to get out of that house immediately,”said the doctor’s voice.“I’m coming round fight away,and the police will be there any time now.Wait outside!”
At that moment,a police car screeched to a stop outside the house.Two policemen got out and
rain into the house.Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened.Then the doctor arrived.
“Where’s Sheba?Is she OK?”shouted Joanne.
“She’s fine,Joanne.I took out the thing which was choking her,and she’s OK now.”
Just then,the two policemen reappeared from the house,half-carrying a white-faced man,who could hardly walk.There was blood all over him.
“My God,”said Joanne,“how did he get in there?And how did you know he was there?”
“I think he must be a burglar.”said the doctor.“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’throat:it turned out to be there human fingers”
56.What was Joanne supposed to do at 6:30?
A.To walk her dog B.To see her doctor
C.To attend a club meeting D.To play tennis with her friends
57.Joanne wanted to get back to her home again
A.to dress up for the meeting B.to phone the police station
C.to catch the badly hurt burglar D.to wait for her dog to be cured
58.From the passage,we can infer that
A.Sheba fought against the burglar
B.the police found the burglar had broken in
C.Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting
D.the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog
59.In the passage,the writer intends to tell us that the dog is
A.clever B.friendly C.frightening D.devoted
Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.
It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireplace in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at the time, nor movie theatres, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry had a place in everyday life.
How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and they can do well without poems?
There are, I believe, three culprits (肇事者): poets, teachers and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed (背叛) us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions hostile (不利的) to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.
Poets failed the readers, so did the teachers. They want their students to know something about the craft (技巧) of a poem, and they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles. Reading poems is thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century because _______.
| A．it built a link among people | B．it helped unite a community |
| C．it was a source of self-education | D．it was a source of pleasure |
The underlined word “diversion” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.
| A．diversity | B．change | C．amusements | D．happiness |
In the last paragraph, the writer questions _______.
| A．the difficulty in studying poems |
| B．the way poems are taught in school |
| C．students’ wrong ideas about poetry |
| D．the techniques used in writing poems |
According to the passage, what is the main cause of the great gap between readers and poetry?
| A．Poems have become difficult to understand. |
| B．Students are poorly educated in high school. |
| C．TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry. |
| D．Students are becoming less interested in poetry. |
A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer’s hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery (火红的) ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.
The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this was what she needed. “It’s getting late,” she thought, “I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am.”
She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.
It was really getting dark now. The sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold too. She wished she had her favorite sweater on: it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... It all seemed deserted. She couldn’t understand what was going on.
She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said: “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking.” Ellen was her mother but — where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents’ room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn’t slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different... she wasn’t in her mother’s room and she wasn’t wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas (睡衣).
It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, “Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared.” The writer describes the beautiful sunset to show Jennifer’s ______.
| A．love of the natural beauty | B．desire of getting back home |
| C．intention of becoming independent | D．depression of being alone |
What does the underlined phrase “This thought” most probably mean?
| A．The idea of going back home. |
| B．Her anxiety about her parents. |
| C．The feeling of being warm in her favorite sweater. |
| D．The feeling of getting back home safely. |
Her father didn’t take care of the garden because ______.
| A．he was busy looking for her |
| B．he had to look after his wife |
| C．he was not strict with his job |
| D．he no longer enjoyed working in the garden |
What can we infer from this passage?
| A．In fact Jennifer’s mother had been sick for several days. |
| B．When she found the garden deserted, she realized she was wrong. |
| C．As Jennifer walked towards home, she became increasingly scared. |
| D．Having experienced a lot outside, Jennifer felt home was safest for her. |
"But Ijust paid 1．69 for this bottle of wine last week．How is it that the price is 2.25?"
There are at least three things going on that have caused the price of wine to rise．All haveto do with the supply and demand factors of economics．
The first factor is that people are drinking more wine than ever before．This demand formore wine has increased wine sales in America at the rate of 15 percent a year．
The second factor is that the supply of wine has stayed relatively the same, which meansthat the same number of bottles is produced each year．Wine producers are trying to open upnew land to grow more grapes．But in at least three wine producing areas of the world-France,Germany, and California --- new vineyards（葡萄园）will not be useable in the near future．Wines are produced in other countries, such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Argentine,Australia, Austria, and Chile．And these wines will be seen more often on the American market．But none of these countries will be able to fill the good wines．
The third factor is that costs of wine production are soaring．The workers who make wineare asking for more money, and the machinery needed to press the grapes is becoming moreexpensive．
When the demand for something is greater than the supply, prices go up．When productioncosts, meaning the price of labor and machinery rise, the producer adds this increase to theprice of the wine．For these reasons, that bottle of wine now costs 2．25 instead of 1．69．What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Every year people drink more wine． |
| B．Countries won't be able to fill the demand for good wines． |
| C．The prices of things go up when the demand for them is greater than the supply． |
| D．The supply of wine will always be less than demand． |
This passage is written to．
| A．describe where wine is produced |
| B．persuade people drink more beer |
| C．explain why the price of wine is rising |
| D．describe why wine is a favorite drink to many Americans |
Theunderlined word "soaring" means"___ .
| A．adding quickly | B．reducing fast |
| C．demanding badly | D．increasing fast |
People can be addicted to different things— e．g．alcohol, drug, certain foods，or eventelevision．People who have such an addiction are compulsive: they have a very powerfulpsychological need that they feel they must satisfy．According to psychologists, many peopleare compulsive spenders．They feel that they must spend money．This compulsion, like mostothers, is impossible to explain reasonably．For compulsive spenders who buy on credit, chargeaccounts are even more exciting than money．In other words, compulsive spenders feel thatwith credit, they can do anything．Their pleasure in spending large amounts is actually greaterthan the pleasure that they get from the things they buy．
There is even a special psychology of bargain hunting．To save money, of course, mostpeople look for sales, low prices, and discounts．Compulsive bargain hunters，however, oftenbuy things that they don't need just because they are cheap．They want to believe that they arehelping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game．When they can buysomething for less than other people, they feel that they are winners．Most people, expertsclaim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good reason for the things that they do and thereal reason．
It is not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending habits, butalso business people．Stores, companies, and advertisers use psychology to increase business．They consider people's needs for love, power, or influence, their basic values, their beliefs andopinions, and so on in their advertising and sales methods．
Psychologists often use a method called "behavior therapy（疗法）"to help individuals solvetheir personality problems．In the same way, they can help people who feel that they haveproblems with money．According to psychologists, a compulsive spender is one who spends large amounts ofmoney．
| A．and takes great pleasure from what he or she buys |
| B．in order to satisfy his or her basic needs in life |
| C．just to meet his or her strong psychological need |
| D．entirely with an irrational eagerness |
According to the passage, compulsive bargain hunters are often in search of the lowest possible prices.
| A．because they feel satisfied if they spend less money than others |
| B．because they like to show off their success in getting things for less money |
| C．because they have money problem |
| D．because they want to save money to help heir budget |
The passage is mainly talking about．
| A．the psychology of money-spending habits |
| B．the purchasing habits of compulsive spenders |
| C．a special psychology of bargain hunting |
| D．the use of the psychology of spending habits in business |
From the passage we may safely conclude that compulsive spenders or compulsive bargainhunters .
| A．are really unreasonable |
| B．need special treatment |
| C．can't be cured |
| D．can never get any help to solve their problems with money |
Dr．Sylvia Earle wants you to stop eating fish．It's not because fish are endangered，thoughwild fish stocks in many oceans are very low．It's not because they're bad for you, though fishin many areas are exposed to poisonous substances in the water．It's because they're smart．
"Fish are sensitive, they have personalities’，says the marine biologist．For Earle, eating afish would be like eating a dog or a cat．“I would never eat anyone I know personally.”
There's a lot more to fish than meets the eye: they talk to each other, they like to betouched, and they engage in behavior that can seem very human．They can remember thingsand learn from experience．Earle and a growing number of animal rights activists see these asstrong arguments against eating fish altogether．
The activists also point out that fish feel pain and fish suffer horribly on their way fromthe sea to the supermarket．“While it may seem obvious that fish are able to feel pain, likeevery other animal, some people think of fish as swimming vegetables，” says Dr. LynneSneddon. “Really，it's kind of a moral question．Is the enjoyment you get from fishing （oreating fish） more important than the pain of the fish?”
Fishermen and （fried） fish lovers are doubtful．"I've never seen a smart fish," says MarieSwaringen as she finishes off a plate of fish at a Seattle seafood restaurant．“If they were verysmart, they wouldn't get caught．"
“For years, everyone's been telling us to eat fish because it's so good for us，” says anotherdiner．‘‘Now I've got to feel guilty while I'm eating my fish? What are they going to think ofnext? Don't eat salad because cucumbers have feelings?"Dr．Sylvia Earle discourage people from eating fish because．
| A．there are not that many wild fish in the ocean |
| B．fish actually are sensitive and have personalities |
| C．some ocean fish contain poisonous substances |
| D．fish are like dogs or cats that people know personally |
We can infer from the passage that．
| A．all people don't agree with the idea to stop eating fish |
| B．people will be persuaded not to eat fish in the future |
| C．stopping eating fish will lead to people's not eating vegetables |
| D．we shouldn't care too much about the feeling of fish |
By saying "There's a lot more to fish than meets the eye, "the writer means．
| A．there are far more fish than other animals in the world |
| B．there are more fish in the world than people can see |
| C．people can see more fish if they pay more attention |
| D．fish are not that simple as they appear to people's eyes |
What is the writer's attitude towards people eating fish?
| A．Neutral． | B．Indifferent． | C．Approving． | D．Opposed． |